Melbourne’s Broadway House Renovated With a Colorful Shade Screen That Blocks The Heat

The back of this Edwardian home in Melbourne faces directly west, and in the afternoon it receives the full brunt of the sun's rays. When it was time to renovate the Broadway House, the owners sought to provide a little more space while protecting back of the home from the sun. Local firm Marcus O'Reilly Architects handled the renovation by grafting a new copper-clad pavilion onto the brick home. They also designed this eye-popping, colorful louvered screen to protect it from the afternoon sun.

The owners of the Broadway House wanted to expand their living, kitchen and dining zones. Marcus O’Reilly Architects addressed these needs by building a new open floor plan pavilion in the back of the home with a new staircase to the upstairs and an upper deck. The exterior is clad in copper and features floor-to-ceiling windows on the lower floor, which let in plenty of natural daylight.

The back of the home faces the west, so in the afternoon it gets blasted with the sun and becomes overheated. To counter this effect, Marcus O’Reilly Architects designed a louvered shade screen to block the sun. The slats are colored in warm tones of red, orange, yellow and white. Some are wood and some are frosted glass, which still lets light filter through and adds a lovely warm afternoon glow through the louvres. The screen also provides privacy from the neighbor’s garden.